Italian regulator fines Meta Platforms 805 million euro for unauthorized Android media access

The Italian data protection authority imposed an 805 million euro fine on Meta Platforms for unauthorized access to photos and videos on Android devices. The regulator determined that the company accessed user media without obtaining explicit consent or providing adequate information to users. This decision follows an investigation into how the Facebook app interacts with media stored on mobile devices.

Details of the privacy violation

The investigation focused on a specific Facebook app feature titled "Get suggestions from gallery when browsing Facebook." This feature has been available to users since 2023. According to the Italian regulator, the company accessed photos, videos, and associated metadata on Italian users' smartphones without explicit consent or proper information.

The investigation into this matter began in 2025. The process was triggered by a report from the Consumer Protection Center in Bolzano. While the investigation addressed the unauthorized access to media, it did not cover the potential use of the accessed content for training artificial intelligence models. Meta Platforms has denied using the content for AI training purposes.

Regulatory requirements and future oversight

As part of the ruling, Meta Platforms must disable the gallery suggestion feature by default. The company is also required to obtain separate, explicit consent from users within 60 days. This regulatory action follows a pattern of increasing scrutiny over data privacy within the European Union.

The Italian regulator reserved the right to conduct a separate investigation regarding a new feature introduced in 2026. This specific feature allows gallery content to be processed in the cloud. The regulator will determine if this new functionality complies with existing data protection standards.

Financial impact and corporate investments

The 805 million euro fine represents approximately 0.47% of the global revenue of Meta Platforms. This penalty is among the largest ever imposed in the European Union for similar privacy violations. The scale of the fine highlights the growing regulatory focus on how large technology companies manage user data on mobile operating systems.

Despite this penalty, Meta Platforms is pursuing significant capital expansion for its technological infrastructure. In November 2026, the company announced plans to raise 15 billion dollars through a bond issue. This fundraising effort will be executed in five tranches and is intended to fund investments in artificial intelligence infrastructure.

Glossary

• European Union — The European Union is a political entity where transparency is a fundamental value as stated in the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU). It includes institutions such as the European Commission, European Parliament, and European Council.
• Meta Platforms — Meta Platforms is a company that includes Facebook. It has an AI research laboratory known as FAIR.
• Android — Android is an operating system. Various software suites and apps are available for this platform.
• Facebook — Facebook is an app that interacts with media stored on mobile devices.